Carving knife for bone-in meats

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kmonroe99
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Carving knife for bone-in meats

Post by kmonroe99 »

Looking for a knife type that would work well for slicing bone-in meats e.g. turkey, ham, etc. Not looking to bone out poultry or other meats, Maybe something like a Kanehide Honesuki or a petty? I'm thinking something with a good point, thin but not necessarily like a Western filet knife?

1)Pro or home cook? Home

2)What kind of knife do you want? (Gyuto, Santuko, Petty, Paring, Sujihiki, etc.) Recommend me

3) What size knife do you want? 210 or less, I think

4)How much do you want to spend? $300 or less

5) Do you prefer all stainless, stainless clad over reactive carbon, or all reactive carbon construction? Stainless clad or reactive

6)Do you prefer Western or Japanese handle? Either

7)What are your main knife/knives now? Takayuki AS Kengata 160

8)Are your knife skills excellent, good, fair? Good

9)What cutting techniques do you prefer? Are you a rocker, chopper or push/pull cutter? Rocker

10)Do you know how to sharpen? Yes
Wjhunt
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Re: Carving knife for bone-in meats

Post by Wjhunt »

I like the Misono Swedish 270 sujihiki for carving ham and turkey. Just a great all around sujihiki. The steel seems to be pretty tough but I try not to cut into the bone.
Robstreperous
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Re: Carving knife for bone-in meats

Post by Robstreperous »

In a perfect world I'd recommend two knives. A honesuki to take the meat off the bone and then a suji to carve it.

Example:

Carving a roasted turkey you use the honesuki to separate the breasts, leg and wing joints from the carcass and I use one to take out the breast meat. Once removed I use the honesuki to slice large pieces off the legs and thighs. After that I us a suji or large low profile gyuto to carve the large, boned out meat from the into serving slices.

Last weekend I used my honesuki to take a ribeye off the bone. Could have used a paring knife for this but why risk my edge? Leg of lamb, ribs, you get the idea.

For $60 - $70 if you're working with bone in meats I say it's woth the investment.

Others may disagree but I don't like using my sujis or gyutos near bone. Too risky with those thin, hard edges. Seems to invite dulling the edge or chipping at worse.

My advice? Spend $60 - $70 on one of the Kanehide honesukis then have at it on a suji or 240 - 270 Mm chefs knife with the rest of your budget.

That said, if you're 100% set on just a single knife that's going to get close to the bone but still do long drawn out carving cuts I think I'd point you to the Kohetsu Hap40 https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kohasu27.html. I find Hap40 a good combination of a forgiving steel that will still hold an edge well and on those occasions I've needed to take out a chip or two it's been pretty painless.

The Swedish @wjhunt recommended above isn't a bad suggestion. A budget choice might be the Kanehide PS60 270. It isn't pretty but the Kanehide's perform really, really well and PS60 is a good, tough yet forgiving steel. https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kapssu27.html
Nmiller21k
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Re: Carving knife for bone-in meats

Post by Nmiller21k »

going off the bone get something softer that can steel well.
Victorinox would work great.
Robstreperous
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Re: Carving knife for bone-in meats

Post by Robstreperous »

^^^^ . Yepp... There's that strategy too.

Or a better grade Henckels or Wushoff.
-toa-
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Re: Carving knife for bone-in meats

Post by -toa- »

+1 on the honesuki+sujihiki combo.

Honesukis are surprisingly fun knives, and there are many good choices. The are build for tough work and often feature a thick spine to give that confident feel. The point is very precise and they are excellent for both chicken and other meats. Length usually about 160-165mm (short and pointy). Some use their petty as an alternative for trimming the meat, remove silverskin etc, but it´s not build for getting close to the bones.
The good news is that you can get a very effective one for very little.

In a pure slicer you´ll ideally want to make the slice in one pull motion (ie no "sawing"). I find that 270mm is great for the "bigger stuff" (like roasts), and I believe it´s the most recommended size for a home user.
The 210mm length is more of a long petty/mini sujihiki - often recommended as a line knife (pro kitchen) where space is limited. I use mine for making quick small cuts (for example cutting a chicken breast) and as an "utility knife", where the 270mm would be overkill (it´s more of a niche-knife for me).
A thicker sujihiki can be great if you cut meat with crust.

Great recommendations above: misono is a tough line of knives that you see a lot of places (for good reasons), while the kohetsu is perhaps more of an elegant slicer with a more exotic steel (you only find this line on cktg).

have fun ! ;)
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lsboogy
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Re: Carving knife for bone-in meats

Post by lsboogy »

I do turkeys, hams, and standing rib roasts with a honesuki and then a gyuto for slicing. I have an old Richmond Laser AS honesuki that does great. But the Kanehide honesuki is a great little cutter (my cousin got one and I've used his a couple of times). Maybe consider the MAC if you are going to be hitting bones a lot - I use care to avoid them - helps to learn how the animal is built to better use a knife

Like many others, I think you would be better off with two knives - and consider a good gyuto for one of them - I love the Kohetsu stuff, have several of them, and had custom handles installed on one set. I slice with a 240 a lot - they are big enough to do single motion slices and you get an all purpose chef knife as well
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